"The Interior bureau that holds the key to Trump’s fossil fuel agenda is riven by feuding between career staff and an emissary from Elon Musk’s budget-cutting operation."

"DOGE-driven staff cuts inside the Interior Department have set off a turf battle over how to deploy personnel at the Bureau of Land Management — raising concerns the vacancies would undermine President Donald Trump’s promise to boost domestic fossil fuel and minerals production.

A memo issued this month by a DOGE appointee at Interior set off a tussle over how employees at BLM should fulfill the duties for the thousands of jobs that now sit empty, but which people inside the agency say are critical for its day-to-day operations.

The May 2 memo, obtained by POLITICO, was signed by Stephanie Holmes, a former staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency who is now embedded as Interior’s acting chief human capital officer. It ordered most staff to stop doing “detail” work — temporarily filling in for vacant positions — and return to their official permanent positions by May 18.

But BLM Deputy Director for Administration and Programs Michael Nedd, a 30-year veteran of the bureau, instructed career staff to ignore the Holmes memo, saying it would have resulted in fewer positions being filled, three people familiar with the situation told POLITICO."

Ben Lefebvre reports for Politico May 24, 2025. [2]